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IllustrateD volume 24, issue 4 17 f Tulane and others before committing to Purdue, clocked a low-4.4 time in the 40-yard dash during his season. "Once I get going, those first five or 10 yards, I get to top speed, then I can keep it going," Hart said of his speed. "I think I have a good stride, and I can just keep it going." He put it to good use in high school, as he put up astronomical numbers as a junior, then served as a touchdown machine as a senior in leading Dallas' First Baptist Academy to an unbeaten season. Among his 23 total touchdowns — and it bears mentioning that he often didn't play any more than a quarter in some blowout wins — were 14 receiving touchdowns; a rushing score; intercep- tion and fumble returns for touchdowns; and punt returns for touchdowns. He also kicked five extra points and scored on a two-point conversion. That playmaking abil- ity, Purdue hopes, will show up one day for its offense, though Hart knows he won't be just running past everyone in the Big Ten the way he could more often than not playing small-school prep football in Dallas. He will have to get big- ger and stronger and ad- just to physical defense. "One thing I'm already dedicated to is getting stronger before I head up to Purdue," Hart said. "I think I can get stron- ger and faster and that'll make me a better player. I just have to have a great mindset and a great work ethic." He says he's actually looking forward to defen- sive backs challenging him at the line of scrim- mage. "It gets me more into the game," he said. "Whenever people try to get physical with me it gets me pumped up and makes me want to do that much more. I actually al- most kind of prefer it." COLE HERDMAN Tight End Cole Herdman was re- cruited by Purdue as a tight end. Smaller schools showed some interest in him as a middle lineback- er. The mentality needed for him to play the latter helps him with the for- mer, he said. "Blocking just comes down to outworking your opponent," said Herman, a 6-4, 225-pound tight end from Flint Hill High School in Oakton, Va. "In the Big Ten especially, I know I'm going to be fac- ing some really athletic defensive ends coming off the edge. I'm going to have to put a lot of work in, but I think I can be re- ally successful in the run game." Purdue believes so, while also thinking the athletic tight end can be a complete player. "He's a guy who can play both phases," tight ends coach Gerad Parker said. "I think we'll be able to get him involved in the pass game and stretch the field vertically a little bit and make plays, while also being able to do what we ask our guys to do, in moving and shifting and being able to survive in the run game at the line of scrimmage." Herdman, who chose Purdue over small- er-school offers and a greyshirt offer from Vir- ginia Tech, was an ev- ery-down sort of player for his high school on both offense and defense, catching seven touch- downs as a tight end and Hart Wes Wolfe Purdue likes Trae Hart's explosiveness, and with good reason. The wide receiver was a touchdown machine in high school in Texas.